The agreement for Anthony Joshua to join the Gypsy King on December 3 has not yet been signed, according to Frank Warren, Tyson Fury's promoter, but he is still confident that it will.
The contract has arrived, but there are still some issues to be resolved, according to Eddie Hearn of AJ's Matchroom Boxing. This is why nothing has happened since Warren's team sent the paperwork last week.
The WBC heavyweight world champion received a 60/40 split of the deal.
The 70-year-old promoter thinks Warren will sign the paperwork as it is currently being reviewed by the 32-year-camp. old's
“The main crux of the negotiations are the splits which are agreed – 60/40. There’s a rematch clause which is agreed – 50/50.
“The big problem was when the fight would take place, it’s December.
“To give everybody comfort we’ve even said that they can be involved in all the broadcast contracts, sponsorships, and everything, so they can see that everything’s above board.
“That side of it, we satisfied any worries they may have. There are no worries about payment because they will get paid directly from the respective TV companies, so that side of it’s sorted out.”
Hearn from Matchroom, which promotes Joshua, confirms the contract was received, but they’re in the process of negotiating certain parts of the agreement.
“It’s not unusual to get a contract that you’re not over the moon with – and it wasn’t that they were playing games or anything like that. It’s just really down to the format of the agreement, which is being rectified and we’re working positively to try and get that in the right shape and I think we’re nearly there in terms of the format of that agreement,” Hearn told iD Boxing.
“[The contract] wasn’t really as we expected, but that was a few days ago and we’ve had some positive conversations. Reshaping that slightly, which seems to be positive.”
The issue may come down to the broadcasters on both sides, with BT Sport and Fury’s deal needing to be levelled with Joshua’s alignment with DAZN.
Warren said: “How can any broadcasters stop this fight from happening? I mean if they did that, they could not have the best interests of British boxing.